BC Market Surges Back; Good News For Brokers

In a report issued by the Bank of Montreal on Wednesday, the bank assured industry professionals the housing market in British Columbia has achieved a soft landing following a concerning sales drop early in the year.

 “Since bottoming in February, sales in the province have jumped nearly 40% through September, and were more than 50% above year-a go levels in Vancouver,” the report said. “That, plus a falloff in new listings, has all but quashed concerns of a hard landing.”

For his part, BC broker Jessi Johnson attributes the bounce back to clients getting acclimated to the market following the lending rule changes of 2012. And, more interestingly perhaps, the end of a historically beautiful summer.

“Because of the new rules, it was hard for people to qualify and it took people about a year to realize this is the new norm and became more realistic about what they can afford,” Johnson told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “We noticed business slowed down because the weather was so amazing in the summer. That had a big impact as well but now it is very, very, very busy.”

Factoring in the normalization of pricing in the area, the bank believes the province has stabilized prices.

“British Columbia’s housing market has been in sharp focus recently, as stricter mortgage rules implemented in July 2012 and lofty valuations (particularly in Vancouver) sent sales sliding early in the year,” the report said. “Fortunately, the market appears to have carved out a soft landing, with sales volumes across the province rebounding more than 30% from their February low to near the 10-year average.”

Looking forward, sales are expected to slow slightly due to the rising interest rates.

“With mortgage rates expected to drift gradually higher, housing is expected to be a modest drag on growth through 2014—look for housing starts in the 22,000 range next year, versus this year’s 26,500 pace.”

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

8 Negotiation Tactics To Help Reduce Your Credit Card Debt

Call at a good time: One of the simplest yet most effective negotiation tactics is to choose the right time to call a credit card company. Call first thing in the morning, as people are more likely to be pleasant and willing to help you out. If you call at the end of the day, people tend to be tired and cranky.

Let them know you will pay back your debt: What concerns credit card companies most are people who are trying all sorts of dirty negotiation tricks to get out of paying their debts altogether. It is crucial that you explain to them that you do intend to pay back your debt. What you are asking is some small help. If you do this nicely, you may be surprised how understanding credit card companies can be!

Take advantage of your first time: If you have not asked for a lower interest rate or to have a late fee waived with this credit card company before, make sure you tell them. These companies are usually much more generous with first time offenders than with those asking for extensions on a monthly basis.

Show them you are a loyal customer: If you've been a long-time customer or a big spender for several years, use this to your advantage. By reminding a company of your loyalty, you'll find that they will be more willing to renegotiate your credit card debt because they don't want to lose your business.

Ask for a lower interest rate: Unknown to many, credit card interest rates are often negotiable. If you have had a good payment history, you shouldn't have any problems with requesting for a lower interest rate. Explain that you'll be able to put more money towards paying off your principal balance instead of your interest rate charges.

Have late payment fees waived: This is such a simple, yet very effective bargaining tactic. Late payment fees can usually easily be waived if you settle your bill within a short period of the due date. If you have, leverage a solid credit history on top. An extra phone call, that is likely to be well worth the effort.

Request to miss a payment: If you have had some unexpected financial issues that you are expecting to resolve in the coming weeks or months, explain your situation honestly to the credit card company and ask very carefully if you could miss a payment or two. Beware though that these kind of skipped payments may have a bad impact on your credit rating.

Speak to the decision maker: An effective negotiation tip is to talk to the person in charge as soon as you can. When you first call, you will probably be diverted straight to a customer service representative. If this is the case, request to talk directly to the manager or another person who can make decisions. Don't forget to write down all the names, designations, and contact details of everyone you talk to, as well as the time, day, and details of the discussions.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

How to Protect Yourself from Overzealous Debt Collectors: Know Your Rights

A couple of weeks back, a debt collection agency based in Glendale, Calif., agreed to pay $1 million to settle complaints from the Federal Trade Commission over its business practices. The agency, which went by the name “National Attorney Collection Practices,” had been harassing delinquent borrowers with debt collection notices bearing an illustration of Uncle Sam’s fist upending some hapless soul and “shaking him down” for loose change.

The harassment didn't end there.
Targeting Spanish-speaking debtors and lower-income consumers who’d fallen behind on loans to payday lending operations, “National Attorney” inundated debtors with phone calls, postal mailings, and text messages to their cellphones that: 

• falsely represented that its notices were coming from attorneys 
• "unlawfully … threatened legal action, arrest, imprisonment, or garnishment" if debtors didn’t pay up 
• and failed to include necessary “disclosures” advising debtors of their legal rights. 

In some cases, the FTC accused National Attorney of even sharing details about consumers’ debts with their friends, family, and co-workers, apparently in an attempt to pressure the consumers into paying. And to top it all off, the FTC says that National Attorney “refused to provide their business address or validation letters to consumers, thereby depriving consumers of the right to send cease-and-desist letters or to dispute alleged debts.”Summing up its charges, the FTC alleged that National Attorney “engaged in deceptive and unfair practices in almost every facet of their dealings with these consumers” — and fined the company $1 million.


Know Your Rights
Of course, the FTC can’t step in to stop every debt collector from breaking the law — at least not in real time.So what can you do to protect your rights, and prevent companies like National Attorney Collection Practices from taking advantage of you when the FTC’s not looking? Well, the first step is knowing what your rights are.Online consumer complaint service Scambook.com cites at least four main rights you have to protect yourself:

• Keep work and home separate: National Attorneys crossed a big red line when it tried to collect debts from consumers at their place of work. Tell debt collectors not to contact you at work — ever. 
• Let’s keep this between you and me: Even legitimate attempts to collect a debt are matters to be discussed between the lender and the debtor. If you find out that a debt collection agency has contacted your friends or family — or anyone else — about your debt, tell them to stop and then file a complaint. 
• You catch more flies, and fewer FTC lawsuits, with honey:What constitutes “harassment” is often going to be in the eye of the beholder, but Scambook says that once communication from a debt collector has risen to the level of harassment, it’s no longer kosher. Tell them to knock it off. 
• Support your local post office: Technology is a marvelous invention. But even so, debt collectors have no right to harass consumers over the phone and by text, by day and by night. If you are the subject of such harassment, tell them you want all future communication to be conducted by mail. This is a request they must honor. 

Also keep on the lookout for other instances where debt collectors are playing fast and loose with the rules. To name just a few violations, the FTC called out National Attorney for:

• Failing to disclose in the very first text message that the company was a debt collector trying to collect a debt. 
• Failing to provide details on the supposed debt the company was attempting to collect, and failing to inform the consumer of his or her right to dispute the debt’s validity. 
• Including statements on the outside of the envelopes on postal mailings, noting that the contents relate to an attempt to collect a debt. Because these envelopes could be seen by anyone, that’s a violation of the rule against informing third parties about a consumer’s debt situation — and it’s a no-no. 

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

3 Helpful Tips On Debt Consolidation

If your debts have become uncontrollable and you are serious to get out of this financial instability, you must go for debt consolidation. With the help of debt consolidation all your multiple unmanageable debts will be consolidated into a single debt. After consolidating your debts, you also do not need to face the hassle of paying off your creditors separately. All your various creditors are paid off with a single monthly payment that you make to your consolidation company. Thus, there are various benefits of consolidating your debts. However, you must be aware that in order to have a successful debt consolidation, you need to know certain tactics. This article provides you with some tips on debt consolidation that may help you out.

Debt Consolidation Tips

Here are some tips on debt consolidation you need to know before you go for consolidating your debts with the help of a debt consolidation company.

• Reputable company - Before you choose a debt consolidation company, make sure to have a thorough research on the debt consolidation company that you want to go for. Research well online about the company and find out if it is a reputable one. All debt consolidation programs are not equal. Shop thoroughly and this in turn will help you get the best deal that suits your needs. Investigate not only whether they are offering you a low fees or not but also how long the company has been in the business, their experience and reputation.

• Non-profit companies - Non-profit organization may offer you much lower fees but you must keep in mind that non-profit doesn't mean that they are eager to help you out with your financial situation. Some also make fake claims to be a non-profit company in order to attract you. Thus, you need to be cautious about them.

• All debts do not need consolidation - All debts are not similar and may not even need consolidation. Thus, do not unnecessarily consolidate them. Analyze each debt separately. You must read the terms and conditions for each of your debt carefully. Estimate the APR and total cost of loan with help of an online loan amortization calculator. If you find out that your existing unsecured debt is cheaper than the consolidation loan that is being provided to you, it is better to avoid consolidating it.

Apart from these tips mentioned above, you must also figure out the total cost of your debt consolidation loan. Securing a low interest rate provides you with the main benefit of consolidating. Thus, make sure to utilize these tips on debt consolidation if you want to secure a successful consolidation.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

How To Consolidate Your Debt?

Are you trying to figure out how to consolidate your debt? One of our readers, Ricky, wrote on the Credit.com blog that he is “trying to consolidate bills since divorce to get back on track.”

Another reader, Norma, wrote:

I have too much credit card debt with high interest. I applied for a loan to consolidate all into one payment, I didn’t get it because of something on my credit report. My payments are always on time by using auto payments. Sears raised the interest to 16.24%, Chase raised theirs to 29.99% and there is no talking them down either. I plan not to use either of the cards again now or after they are paid off.

How can they charge such high interest on credit cards when the savings account is paying 1.25%?

Once you’ve decided to consolidate your debt, there are several important steps you need to take so that it’s ultimately beneficial for you.

1. Check your credit reports and get your credit score.

You can get your credit reports from each of the three major credit reporting agencies for free once a year at AnnualCreditReport.com. It’s a good idea to review them so you don’t end up in the situation Norma found herself in, getting denied due to a mistake or negative items you weren’t aware of on your credit reports. Your credit report should also list most, if not all, of your debts, which will help you with the second step.

You can check your credit score for free using Credit.com’s Credit Report Card. It will show you what factors in your credit are strong and what may need some work. You can also find out whether your credit is excellent, good, or not so hot.

2. Take an inventory of your debt.

Make a list of the balances you owe on each of the cards or loans you want to consolidate, the interest rates and the monthly payments. This will help you identify the debts that are most important for you to consolidate. For example, in Norma’s case, while both of her interest rates are high, she should try to consolidate the balance at 29.99% first, since it is so high.

3. Research debt consolidation options.

You may be able to consolidate with a loan from your local bank or credit union, an online lender that offers personal loans, or by transferring a balance from a high-rate credit card to a low-rate one. If you get a consolidation loan online, be sure to deal with reputable lenders as there are scammers who will take the information consumers submit with applications and use it fraudulently.

Before you apply, try to find out if the lender can provide you any information about its credit requirements. Some lenders, for example, may require a minimum credit score or won’t extend credit to those with bankruptcies listed on their credit reports.

4. Apply for a consolidation loan.

Once you’ve narrowed down the field of places to get a consolidation loan and learned as much as you can about their lending requirements, it’s time to apply for a consolidation loan. In most cases, you can get an answer almost immediately. If that answer is “yes,” you can move onto the next step.

If the answer is “no,” take a careful look at the reasons you were turned down. If you think those answers don’t really apply, try calling the lender and ask to be reconsidered for the account. If you are turned down due to the debt you are carrying, for example, but explain that you are going to use the new loan to consolidate that debt, you may have a shot at getting the loan. It doesn’t hurt to ask!

If you can’t get approved for one of these loans after trying a couple of lenders, you may want to talk with a credit counseling agency. These agencies can often help clients lower their interest rates or payments through a Debt Management Plan (DMP). If you enroll in a DMP, you’ll make one payment to the counseling agency which will then pay all your participating creditors, so even though it’s not technically a consolidation loan, it feels like one.

5. Consolidate your debt.

If you are approved for a consolidation loan, you can then use that new loan to pay off other debts. If you don’t get a new credit line large enough to consolidate all your debt, focus on paying off your higher rate loans or balances first.

6. Pay your loans off as fast as possible.

If you can add a little extra to your monthly payments, you’ll be able to pay off your new loan faster. Even if you don’t, you’ll want to do your best to avoid the temptation of tapping the credit lines you have just paid off. After all, your goal with debt consolidation should be to dig out of debt — not to dig the hole deeper!

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

How To Succeed With Home Improvement Projects Today!

Personal home improvement can be a great way to increase the efficiency of your home life, and even add value to your property. Many people are intimated by the thought of even holding a tool, but there are a variety of do-it-yourself projects that can be undertaken even by a complete klutz. Keep reading to find out some of the things you can do to improve your home.

Paint your doors with a fresh coat of white paint to cover up the wear of everyday use. After a while the doors get a grimy bland color, so applying a new coat can make your doors appear new, as well as, add brightness to the inside of your house.

Install radiant heat under your new tile floors. There are kits available for the do-it-yourself homeowner, and it's really not rocket science. It will make a dramatic difference in the "wow" factor of your home both to guests and to potential buyers. Invite them to take their shoes off and feel the heat!

There are a few ways to deal with screws that are too tight or too loose in your home. Use clear nail polish to tighten screws that are too loose. To loosen screws that are too tight, try adding peroxide or ammonia, letting them soak for just a few minutes before attempting to unscrew.

When it comes to home improvement, be sure to promote the leaks at your house to the top of your priority list. This is important because leaks can be either dangerous, detrimental to the structure of your house, or to your pocketbook. Check all water pipes and fixtures for leaks on a regular basis. Install a CO2 detector in your house for gas leaks.

By following these tips you will be able to increase the market value of your home. This is essential in the current environment in the United States. By adding small touches to your home you can give your property an edge over the competition and sell your real estate much more quickly.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.

Pressured? It's Easier With These Home Improvement Tips

It can be frustrating trying to figure out where to start improving your home, but it will be worth it down the road. It takes patience and a wealth of knowledge to get started on the right foot. You will gain valuable knowledge and helpful tips from the article below that will assist you in all of your ventures with home improvement.

If you are working on a new home improvement project, make sure that you are complimenting your environment rather than fighting against it. If you are in an area that has high winds, then you most likely will not be spending much time outside. As such, it probably would be in your best interest to work on indoor arrangements. By the same token, you can still enjoy the outdoors, by simply adding a glass structure. This can help block out the environment while still providing you with an outdoors atmosphere.

Think about putting a fresh coat of paint on your porch area. If you do, take care to use a high-quality exterior paint. It's important that you select paint that has the same base. For example, you want to use oil paint over oil-based paint or latex paint (water) over paint with a water base. Since oil-based paint generally lasts longer, it is great for trim. However, since snow and water make it extremely slippery, you should not use oil-based paint on any outside surface that is walked on.

Replace old and outdated sliding glass patio doors with french doors. The look is bold and modern, something that new buyers will really appreciate. It's the kind of small touch that is quick, easy, and inexpensive but will give you the most bang for your hard earn buck.

Adding accessories to your room can be a great way to make a space feel like your own. Infuse your own personality into your room by carefully choosing some accessories to your liking. Make sure not to go overboard with decorations because it can make a small room feel rather cramped.

Fix floor squeaks with a few drywall screws. While a second person waits below in the crawl space or basement, walk over your floor and locate where the squeaking is occurring. Signal to the person below where the problem is. They can insert a drywall screw through the sub floor and into the flooring to stop the squeak.

This article should have helped you get a handle on how to do home improvement work in your home. If you keep these tips in mind, you will find great learn a great deal of knowledge that will stay with you forever.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.